Widespread use of wireless phones has made them an indispensable tool to businesses and individuals alike. Many individuals carry their wireless phone almost everywhere they go just in case they need to make a call. As a result, friends and colleagues have come to reasonably expect they can get a hold of each other almost immediately with a single phone call.
While talking on a wireless phone is generally preferred, it is sometimes not possible as one party may be busy or in a meeting. Instead of a voice conversation, people may instead use their wireless phone to type a short text message and send it to another user. The short text message is sent over a specially provisioned data channel within the voice network called Short Messaging Service (SMS). SMS addresses messages using the same phone number provisioned to the wireless phone for voice communication but sends them over the data channel on the voice network. This data channel for SMS is generally limited to 140 text characters since it relies upon unused bandwidth made available when a control channel within the voice network is idle and not occupied setting up or managing voice calls.
Operators of the voice networks discovered they could charge users an additional fee for using SMS even though it cost very little for them to implement. The voice networks effectively charge for each message sent thus making the SMS communication a source of revenue. Even higher fees apply to users who send international messages to people outside their country.
Unfortunately, SMS communication remains a relatively closed and proprietary system as it is controlled by the operators of the voice network. Little has been done to increase the features associated with SMS messaging or decrease the costs as there are no competing systems. People sending text messages generally accept the 140 character limitation for sending each transmission and the relatively costly fee structure. Despite these limitations, the popularity of SMS communication on wireless devices continues to attract new users and grow in popularity. There is a need to develop an easy to use messaging system with lower costs and more features.